


Knight

by ottermo



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-12
Updated: 2013-05-12
Packaged: 2017-12-11 16:50:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/800941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ottermo/pseuds/ottermo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marius wasn't completely thrilled about his new-found role of Damsel in Distress, but it seemed that the very best of the handsome princes had been picked out to save him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knight

The street that lead to the Musain looked different in the dark, and for a moment Marius wasn't convinced he'd come to the right place. It was the first time he'd made his way there without Courfeyrac. When he turned the corner, though, he could just about make out the cafe's name in the light from a nearby streetlamp. Good. He had found it. It would have been beyond embarrassing if he'd had to text Courf to tell him he'd got lost. 

A group of young men, around his own age, were walking in the opposite direction, coming towards him. Instinctively Marius moved to the side of the street so they wouldn't come too close to him. _God, Pontmercy, you're like a little old woman, scared of a few hoodies in the dark,_ he scolded himself inwardly. But precaution was sensible, he reasoned. 

One of them spotted him, though, and jeered in his direction. Marius put his head down and kept walking. This was ridiculous, he was nearly twenty, he wasn't going to reward playground bullying with any kind of reaction. 

"Posh knob," one of them called out, "That's right, better move away, wouldn't want to risk brushing shoulders with scum like us, eh?"

Marius kept walking, but some of them had turned now, following him. He resisted the temptation to quicken his pace. No point turning it into some kind of chase. 

Suddenly one of them was right behind him, grasping the back of Marius's shirt so tight that it pressed into his neck. The smell of alcohol was coming off the other man in waves. "My friend was talking to you, aren't you going to answer him?"

They'd forced him against the wall. The bricks scratched Marius's back but he was only paying attention to the clenched fist of his assailant. He tried to brave himself, but having never been properly punched before, he was slightly unsure of how much pain to expect. 

Marius closed his eyes, no longer caring whether they thought he was a coward, since it seemed like he was going to get a beating either way. He wasn't completely defenceless usually, but this guy was much bigger than his fairly weedy frame, so really what would be the point of wasting energy trying to fight back? 

The punch never came, though. Marius opened his eyes in time to see the youth being wrenched away from him by a muscular arm and thrown backwards. He stumbled and fell, and as soon as he tried to stand back up, the arm of Marius's saviour extended again to punch him squarely on the jaw. He swore and stumbled off drunkenly down the street, his two friends in tow. 

Marius was impressed. He wasn't completely thrilled about his new-found role of Damsel in Distress, but it seemed that the very best of the handsome princes had been picked out to save him, if he could get rid of all three of them so quickly.

His knight in shining armour noticed his stunned look and shrugged. "Cochepaille's not really all that tough. He just likes to scare people. You all right, mate?"

Vaguely Marius realised he should give some indication of having understood the question, and he found the ability to nod. "Mmm. Thanks. Like, a _lot_."

"No problem," the knight said, smiling an easy smile that changed his face from one of slightly-scary-if-well-moraled-badassery to one of sweetness and light on a puppies-and-kittens level. Finally Marius remembered where he'd seen the man before.

"You're...one of Courf's friends?" He said waveringly. "Sorry, I can't remember your name. I'd pretend it's because of shock and stuff, but I'm actually just completely awful at names."

The knight laughed. It was a deep and almost melodious sound, and that was something Marius never thought he'd hear outside of a Disney cartoon. "Don't worry about it. It's Bahorel, anyway. You're Marius Pontmercy."

"Thanks," Marius said absently, then checked himself. "I mean-! Yes. Yes I am." 

Bahorel laughed again. 

They stood there for a few seconds before Bahorel said, "Are you on your way to the Musain?"

"Yep," Marius replied. They set off in that direction again. 

After a few moments, he added, "You're, like...really strong."

Bahorel nodded seriously. "I've been told. But don't let it put you off, I'm also a very gentle lover."

Marius blinked, unsure if it was a joke or not. "I like girls," he said, in a way he hoped sounded conversational. 

Bahorel laughed The Laugh again. "Good for you, mate. Just messing with you, sorry."

Marius chuckled along with him. They reached the cafe, and he held open the door for his new friend. "Thanks," Bahorel said.

"It's literally nothing," Marius said, for some reason feeling flustered that a man to whom he owed such a great debt would be thanking him for anything at all. "You saved my life back there."

Bahorel grinned and shook his head, "Nah. Couple of hits and Cochepaille would have got bored. I just saved you a few bruises. And I don't even consider these things as favours. Fighting's kind of my thing."

"Right," Marius said. He couldn't really understand why anyone would actively want to get into a fight, but perhaps when you were as big and muscly as Bahorel it was a different story. "Will they be upstairs again?" He asked as he surveyed the by now mostly empty ground floor of the cafe. He wasn't sure if the precise location of the first meeting he'd come to was permanent or not. 

"Yep." 

Marius followed Bahorel up the stairs. He had the strangest feeling he'd follow him almost anywhere from now on.

**Author's Note:**

> I had to channel my obsession with Les Amis somewhere, and the somewhere I've chosen is a series of fairly inconsequential oneshots. If you enjoyed this one, hooray!


End file.
